Failure Behavior of Knitted Fabric Composites

Abstract

This paper presents experimental and theoretical studies of the failure behavior of knitted fabric composites. Test results of the tensile and shear strengths of plain-stitch and rib-stitch fabric composites are presented. It has been determined that fracture initiates due to yam/matrix debonding, and the interfacial crack propagates along the yam/matrix interface. An analytical model of the failure behavior based upon observation of the fracture surface is presented. A good agreement between experimental and predicted failure strengths is obtained for plain-stitch fabric composites under warp direction loading. Large discrepancies exist between predicted and experimental strengths for other cases.